Very sad news to report

Well, I opened a bottle of Distiller's Masterpiece (by Jim Beam in conjunction with some famous congnac maker) -- retails for $250 although I got it from my friendly local for $215. It's absolutely fantiastic and easily my favorite bourbon ever. I was fully prepared for it to be mostly marketing hype. However, it is the smoothest bourbon I've ever tasted. Just a rich continuous aroma of flavors that go on continuously from first sip through aftertaste. Good straight or cut with water (my usual) on ice or not. It's probably on the smoothe and gentle side of bourbons cause there is no bite, but it's a strong flavor. I'll post something elsewhere, since this line was on price. But I'm very very dissapointed in liking a $215 bottle of bourbon so much, cause I now need to get another, and, god forbid, need to try the Distiller's Masterpiece 20 which is another $100 above that one!!! Geeez, $320 for a bottle?????

I am still amazed at the quality of the middle shelf bourbons. You can get things up to 15 years old, up to 114 proofs (several over 100proof), and Single Barrels. Here is my short list of "best buys" for what I consider mid range pricing ($20-$40). I base these prices on what I see them for at large local retailers or online stores.